THE BASIC AUSTRALIAN HERITAGE

Australia Day produced once again the usual discussions about how best to celebrate Australia's national day. As January 26th fell on a Saturday this year, the day lent itself to an outburst of hedonism, which, while enjoyable as a type of national birthday party, tended to obscure the question of what Australians were celebrating. There were, of course, a number of excellent speeches that attempted to draw attention to the real roots of Australian history. Once again the Grassbys sought to use the opportunity to "knock" everything, which drew attention to Australia's British origins.

Although former Prime Minister Whitlam arbitrarily gave Australians a new National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair, the Hawke Government's attempt to suppress all references to the nation's British heritage has even extended to deleting the second verse of this song, which starts "When gallant Cook from Albion sailed" and refers to British courage and the landing on the shores of what came to be known as Australia.

Writing just before Australia Day, historian Professor Blainey suggested that while celebrations have tended to centre on the arrival of Captain Phillip on January 26th, 1788, they have not paid a sufficient tribute to the courage and the great skills of Captain Phillip in bringing his small fleet so successfully half way around the world. It was an epic achievement and one which should be extolled as an inspiring achievement.

Victorian RSL President, Mr. Bruce Ruxton, dealt with the First Fleet in his address at the Moorabbin Council's Australia Day Dinner on Thursday of last week. But there was a notable absence of Labor politicians. Dr. Gerard Vaughan, MLA, said in a letter declining the invitation to be present, that "it was sad the city had missed the opportunity to have as the guest speaker a person who more inspires goodwill and a sense of community among Australians of all ages and ethnic backgrounds". With the exception of Mr. Gordon Hockley, Labor MLA for Bentleigh, all other Labor politicians declined the Council's invitation, claiming they had previous appointments. Mrs. Joan Child, Member for Henty, and Mr. Lewis Kent, the Member who attempted to physically attack the Opposition in the Federal Parliament last year, were among those declining to attend.

The Moorabbin Standard of January 23rd, quoted Mr. Ruxton as saying that those not coming "won't be missed anyhow," going on to say, "I see its members (of the Labor Party) are not allowed to attend meetings with Eric Butler of the League of Rights, yet they share a platform with any Marxist or Communist". So far from the boycotting of the Moorabbin Dinner affecting the attendance, there was a tremendous turn out to hear a man who speaks for the great majority of Australians on what Australia stands for.

A major aspect of the growing threat to the real, the traditional Australia, is that subversives, dominating the media, especially the ABC, are manipulating minorities. As stressed by C.H.Douglas in The Brief for The Prosecution ($6.00 from all League bookshops) social stability requires a homogenous people and culture, quoting Marx's statement that "The English are incapable of making a Socialist revolution, therefore foreigners most make it for them", which he described as "a statement of high historical and practical value." The revolutionaries require the multicultural society so that they can then make a business out of exploiting the friction which such a society generates.

The growing campaign against the Australian flag and the Crown is justified in the name of a "changing" Australia with many ethnic groups not able to relate to traditional Australia. Large numbers of the non-British ethnic groups in Australia have no difficulty in relating to the mainstream of a nation which inherited from the British its system of government, a concept, Christian based, of fair play and toleration, the priceless common law, the enemy of others, and last, but certainly not least, the noble English language which, as pointed out by the distinguished British scientist and philosopher, Dr. Geoffrey Dobbs, during his recent visit to Australia under the auspices of The League of Rights, grew out of the influence of Christianity.

One of the virtues of the great majority of Australian people, particularly those of Anglo-Saxon-Celtic background, is an easy going toleration which is, however, their Achilles heel, one exploited by those who seek to uproot them from their true heritage. It is time for that majority of Australians who still have respect for the basic values of the nation, to come together in a stand against their common enemies. They must expose and oppose those chopping away at the very roots of the nation, making materialistic assessment of the nation as "being part of Asia".

A nation not only lives in terms of space and geography, but in terms of time. It was Lieutenant James Cook of the Royal Navy who, after a long and adventurous voyage, discovered, chartered, and claimed the East Coast of Australia for the British Crown. When Captain Philip arrived at Botany Bay after his epic voyage, he did not find the system of common law, representative government under the Crown, and the English language, all lying around on the shore to be picked up. Phillip's small contingent, including the convicts themselves, transported across thousands of miles a culture which took root in a new land. That, culture was progressively sustained and enlarged with a migration programme which was basically British. Those who would deny Australia's basic roots are themselves rootless and without soul.

LAND CLAIMS ISSUE SPLITS LABOR RANKS

Even though suffering from a big dose of self delusion at the time, Prime Minister Hawke heeded before the Federal Elections the warning by W.A. Premier Burke that he could lose up to five seats in the West if his Government persisted in the view that it should overrule the Burke government's proposed Aboriginal land claims legislation. Mr. Hawke stepped back a step and now, following the election and referenda set backs, he has backed away further and agreed with the Burke Government's proposals. This has caused a cleavage between Aboriginal Affairs Minister Holding, backed by the Marxist movement, and Mr. Hawke the political pragmatist. By agreeing with the Burke proposals, which deprive Aboriginal vetos against mining operations, Mr. Hawke has also opened the way for the modification of the Northern Territory land claims legislation.

The radical chairman of the National Aboriginal Conference, Mr. Rob Riley, has responded by calling an urgent summit of Aboriginal organisations in Melbourne. Mr. Riley threatens "The Federal Government is giving the Aboriginal community little choice other than to consider more political action". Predictably, Mr. Riley also threatens to take the matter to the United Nations Human Rights Convention in Geneva next month. Yet to be resolved is how the Hawke Government is now proposing to frame its long awaited Federal legislation on land claims.

The massive national campaign against Aboriginal land claims initiated by the Australian League of Rights, threw the Hawke Government on to the defensive in the latter part of the year. Any further retreats by the Federal Government will intensify the factional fighting inside the whole Labor movement. It is far too early to claim a complete victory on the revolutionary land claims issue. There is the danger of the dialectical one step backwards now in order to make a greater advance later. Public opposition must be strengthened against the whole concept of land claims. Supplies of Mr. Geoff McDonald a Red Over Black, the best seller exposing the Marxist background of the Aboriginal land claims movement, are still available. Indispensable. $7 posted from all League bookshops.

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BRIEF COMMENTS

Now that Premier Cain has announced his Victorian election date, and Liberal Opposition leader Mr. Geoff Kennett insists that his party is philosophically opposed to the Labor Party, stressing the importance of freedom of choice, will Mr. Kennett tell the Victorian electors if they would have freedom, concerning compulsory mass medication known as fluoridation?

Remember how, not so long ago Mr. Al Grassby was assuring Australians that, thanks, of course, mainly to Mr. Grassby's efforts, "racists" had been suppressed in Australia? But Victorian Premier Cain, speaking in Melbourne at a multicultural conference in January 24th, charged that "racism" was getting worse. He calls on Australians to combat "the scourge of racism". Mr. Cain says that the policies of assimilation "bred distrust and led to a defensive and intolerant host community. In devaluing the culture of others we have brought out the worst in ourselves". Apart from his lack of logic, Mr. Cain is in effect saying that Australia's present immigration policy is producing more friction.